Dean Ambrose: the Kitty Master
by caylender
Summary: Dean has a bad habit of picking up strays. He can't help it when they're this adorable. Some Shield fluff with kittens. What more could you possibly want from a fic?


Captainbartholomew and I decided that there should be more fics involving the Shield with puppies and/or kittens. I decided on my own that I should only ever write fics that involve the two, and I should go back and rewrite every one of my fics with kitties and/or puppies. The good Captain disagreed with me there. Who knows why; she's crazy. But I guess I'll take her advice and not replace every foil character that has ever appeared in one of my fics with a puppy...

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything related to the WWE. Obviously.

This takes place in the earlier Shield days during the feud with Team Hell No.

* * *

How could he have possibly resisted? Dean awkwardly shifted the box in his arms as he stood in front of the hotel in the frigid winter air. There had been no conceivable way to walk out of that situation any differently than how he did! He'd like to see Seth or Roman resist those eyes and little pleas for help… Yeah, that's what he thought; there was no way that those two could resist someone in need, especially who he had been faced with.

He just didn't want to have to justify himself to his brothers and explain that it had happened…again.

Currently, he was trying to work up the courage to enter and proceed up to his shared hotel room. He was giving himself a little pep talk; however, he wasn't nearly as convincing to himself as he was to a RAW crowd.

Dean heaved a great sigh and trudged into the hotel and to the elevator. He jabbed the button for his floor and fidgeted while he waited for the doors to close. To his displeasure before the doors could close completely, two people entered the glorified tin can.

Awkwardly, he held the box and stared at the wall, ignoring the glares being sent his way. The doors closed and the elevator slowly began to ascend.

Smooth jazz poured out of the elevator's speaker system.

Finally the silence between the men was broken when a masked Kane asked him, "What's in the box?"

Dean shrugged. "Nothing that concerns you."

Daniel Bryan pulled a face. "You know, that really is rude. I really can't stand it when people are rude for no reason!"

Kane put a hand on Bryan's shoulder to restrain him. Bryan shot the Demon a glare before rounding on Dean again. "You probably have weapons of some kind that you're going to sneak in our next match. You cheat so much; it doesn't surprise me!"

Dean snorted. "As if we'd need weapons to beat you two." He paused before adding, "And don't worry it. It's not a big deal."

Bryan seemed to get even more fired up by Dean's refusal to answer his question. "If it's not a big deal, then why won't you just show me what you have in there?"

Dean shrugged one shoulder lazily. "It's really none of your business, and it's funnier for me this way."

Bryan managed to break out of Kane's hold and grab one of the box flaps. Unfortunately, since Kane moved to pull Bryan back, one of the flaps and sides of the box tore off completely. Bryan and Kane stared at the contents of the box, dumbfounded.

"Meow Meow!" Four little furry faces peeked out from the hole at the two wrestlers.

"Are you serious? You just have kittens!" Bryan exclaimed.

Kane slowly stepped around Bryan and towered over Dean. He narrowed his eyes at Dean before saying, "May I?"

Dean quirked an eyebrow. "Uh yeaah, sure."

Kane reached down and held his hand out to the kittens. Just his hand alone made the kittens appear that much smaller. One of the braver kittens, a sleek black cat, crept closer to Kane and sniffed his hand. With a measure of gentleness that Dean wouldn't have believed possible, Kane scooped up the kitten. He lifted the kitty up to his face and nuzzled it.

Daniel Bryan and Dean wore identical looks of disbelief. However, Kane was oblivious to them as he continued to cuddle with the kitten.

The elevator finally stopped and its doors opened with a ding.

Kane met Dean's gaze. "I want this kitten."

Dean blinked at Kane. "What?"

"I want this kitten. I'll name him Taker."

Dean shrugged. "I guess as long as you take care of him…And you don't light him on fire."

Kane nodded. "I'll keep him safe." He nodded at Dean and left the elevator with a speechless Daniel Bryan following him.

Dean shook his head and peeked into the box. Three little kitty faces peeked back at him. Dean sighed and gently drummed his fingers on the box. His brothers were going to kill him. Well… Roman was going to kill him; on the other hand, Seth would be overjoyed by the prospect of small fluffy animals and would be distracted with petting the kittens to be angry. He'd want to name them all and keep them…

Soon enough, the elevator reached his floor and dinged. Dean swore under his breath and trudged down the hallway. Upon reaching the room, he carefully shifted the box to one arm and swiped his card through the lock. He slowly pushed the door open and entered the room.

He scanned the room. He could hear the shower running and guessed it was Roman. If he knew Seth (and he really did know Seth), Seth was going for a night run to clear his head. He carefully placed the kittens on the little couch and ventured around the little privacy barrier between the couch and the beds before he plopped down on one of the beds. He snuggled into the pillows and closed his eyes. He could hear the shower knob squeak and the water stop running.

Wait for it.

Wait for it…

He heard the bathroom door opening and the bottom of the door scraping against the carpet. Then he heard the soft thuds of Roman's footfalls lumber across the length of the room and then the absence of the thuds as Roman paused to observe the box of kittens.

"Jesus Christ" then filled the room before the thuds continued over to the beds. "What the hell, Dean. We've talked about this."

And they had. Roman must have sat Dean down and given him the same lecture upwards of a million times. For whatever reason, it never really stuck. In the past, he'd brought puppies, kittens, and hamsters back to the room. Once he found a rabbit as big as a large house cat. That was especially memorable. Seth had latched onto it and named it Lopsie. Over the course of one night, he taught the rabbit how to navigate through make-shift obstacle courses, scolded him for chewing through Dean's phone charger cord, and took dozens of photos with Lopsie. The high flier was devastated when he had to give the bunny away because Lopsie just wasn't compatible with the rambling lifestyle they lived.

Dean kept on bringing strays home (or to the hotel rooms). Roman attributed this tendency to Dean lacking willpower. He never could say no in this kind of situation. He would see the little faces and the big eyes and couldn't help himself. But Seth always thought that it was because Dean was kind of a stray himself. He didn't really have a family, only Seth and Roman, and Dean had essentially adopted them…

Dean didn't bother opening his eyes. "Hey Roman"

"We can't keep them. You know having pets doesn't work with our schedules."

Dean opened one eye lazily. "I couldn't just leave them there."

"Well, we can't keep them here!"

"They were left in a box on the side of the road, Ro, and it was snowing. I couldn't just leave them there." Dean sat up and met Roman's gaze. "They would have died."

Roman sighed and sat down on the end of the bed. "We can't keep them."

Dean sighed. "I know. I know. I just couldn't leave them there. You saw them; they're too young to survive out in the cold."

Roman couldn't help but feel a little guilty at that statement. "I get it. It's just…You know how attached Seth gets. He'll take one look, name them all, and plan on setting them up with Kevin on a play date."

"Well, we could always get them out of here before he gets back-" Dean trailed off when he heard a familiar voice.

"Aww! Where'd you guys come from? Oh look at you! You're a little Calico, aren't you? Oh come here, little guy! And you, too!"

Dean looked at Roman. "Or maybe not."

Roman sighed and rubbed his eyes. "We'll have to find homes right away, so he doesn't have any grounds for adopting all three."

Dean nodded. "I don't think we'll have too much trouble. There were four of them in the box; I already gave one away."

"Really?" Roman's eyebrows rose. "Some guest at the hotel?"

"Umm, kinda. It was Kane…"

Roman stared at Dean in disbelief before he began to chuckle. "Kane?"

Dean grinned and began to snigger as well. "I'm serious! He literally cuddled with the thing!"

Roman began to outright guffaw at that statement.

"You look like your name would be Taco! Yes, you are! You're TacoCat! And Miss Calico, you look like a Kali. And what about you, you little black ball of fluff? You're like a little furry meatball with legs! Oh, Meatball! Yes, you are a little Meatball!"

Roman and Dean exchanged looks and began to laugh even harder. Dean sniggered and said, "Did he even manage to go five minutes before he named them?"

Roman shook his head. "Not by my count."

"What's so funny?" Seth was padding over to the bed still sweaty from his run and in his running clothes but equipped with an armful of kittens. He plunked down on the bed and released the kitties.

Dean glanced at Roman and grinned. "Nothing, Rollins. Nothing at all."

Seth shrugged. "Welp, I'm adopting them all. I already named them, and they seem calm, so they'll get along with Kevin."

Roman sighed. "Seth, we've talked about his before. Just because you like them, doesn't mean they'll get along with Kevin."

"But they're cute little guys…"

"And it would be irresponsible to adopt them when you're on the road. Do you think they'd be happy cooped up in a car for all the driving we do?"

Seth frowned and picked up the Calico kitten. He held it in front of him like a peace offering and put on his best pout. "But Roman, look; it's a kitty!"

Dean smirked. "Yeah, Roman, look at how cute those two are together!"

Roman glared at Dean. "You're not helping."

"Just one, Rome? Can I keep just one?" The pout grew to epic proportions.

"Yeah, it could be our little mascot. Our Shield Sidecat!" Dean's smirk grew into a real smile.

"It would be cat-tastic!" Seth chimed in.

Roman scrubbed a hand over his eyes. "What Dean, are you going to become the Kitty Master now?"

Seth and Dean exchanged looks of pure glee before Dean said, "Oh, now that's good."

"Pure gold. We need to rebrand Dean as the Kitty Master."

Roman groaned and closed his eyes. A tiny meow with a little paw prompted him back to the situation. The little, fluffy back kitten was trying to crawl on his lap. Roman sighed. "Meatball, I'm guessing?" The little guy was almost perfectly round because of his frizzy fur.

Seth beamed. "Yup! That's Meatball. This little Calico is Kali. And the one Dean is holding is Taco!"

Dean paused from scratching behind the kitten's little ear. "Why Taco?"

"Because TacoCat is a palindrome; it's the same forwards as it is backwards."

Dean tilted his head in consideration before he nodded. "Makes sense to me."

Roman finally conceded to Meatball and picked him up. As he petted the kitten, he sighed. "We're going to be stuck keeping them, aren't we?"

Dean and Seth grinned at each other. "Yup!"

* * *

So you should review. Why? Because Kitties! (It's a compelling argument, I'm aware.) And give Captain the blame for the awful cat puns... It's her fault for wanting Dean plus kitties in a fluffy fic. She made the prompt. Not me.

And speaking of Captainbartholomew and the Shield. She's posting a killer fic called What Is And What Should Never Be. If you love the Shield and you love a fantastic fic, you should read this! Totally different from this piece of fluff, which is an awesome thing! Now review this and then go read and review Captain's fic!


End file.
